3 February 2026

Kingsolver takes the bones of a Dickens plot and transplants them into contemporary Appalachia, and what could have been a clever exercise instead becomes one of the most alive narrative voices I've read in years. Demon himself narrates with so much wit and stubborn humor that the hard material — foster care, addiction, poverty treated as a personal failing rather than a systemic one — never tips into misery for its own sake; he's too sharp and too funny a narrator to let that happen to his own story. This is a great pick if you want a big, sprawling coming-of-age story with real momentum, since the pages genuinely turn themselves despite the length of the book. It's also one of the more clear-eyed books about the opioid crisis I've come across, because it's told from inside the community it affects rather than looking in from outside with pity. Read this if you're looking for a book about resilience that doesn't romanticize suffering, or if you loved a classic like David Copperfield and want to see how well its structure holds up wearing entirely different clothes. Demon's voice carries you through some genuinely brutal stretches, and Kingsolver never lets you forget his intelligence and humor even at his lowest points, which somehow makes those points hit harder rather than softer. Save this for a stretch when you can read in long sessions — once Demon starts talking to you, you won't want to stop listening to him.